When you can't do it all - Polly Jemima
/When you can't do it all
In our mixed-up society, there’s so much pressure on mums to be perfect at everything they do. We have to be mum, wife, cook, cleaner, friend, daughter, colleague, taxi driver, and a million more things and do all of them perfectly all the time. We wake up, after being up twenty times in the night with the baby, switch on our phones to be bombarded with pictures of ‘perfect lives’ – those IG feeds that are gorgeous – no piles of laundry, dirty dishes, kids messes or tantrums in sight. We forget that they are the highlight rolls. that behind the scenes is a mum just like us, that they just choose to capture the best bits, the bits they want to remember and treasure.
I used to put so much pressure on myself. I’d write huge to-do lists that I had no chance of ever completing in a day. I’d have ridiculous expectations of myself and then when I couldn’t live up to them, I’d mentally beat myself up.
The evening would come, my to-do list wouldn’t be all ticked off and I’d find myself angry. And sad. And truthfully a little pissed off.
Mostly at myself. For NOT BEING ABLE TO DO EVERYTHING.
But really, how crazy is that? I am one person. Not a superwoman. I have five kids. One of whom is a toddler who apparently does not need to sleep. No partner. I work from home too. One person – who has to be a mother, a teacher, a cleaner, a cook, a nanny, a writer, a secretary, a taxi service, and probably a zillion other things that I forgot right now. That’s all before I am ‘ME’ – Polly.
So I just decided to give myself permission to not do everything. To not try to be a superwoman and do every single thing all of the time.
To leave the laundry. Or the pile of dishes. Get the kids to help out more. To worry less and just be. To spend more time playing, reading, cuddling, colouring with the kiddos. They will grow up and be gone, and then I can do all the things I want, in my own sweet time.
My new mantra is to slow down. Believe I am enough. That I am doing my best. And I am not failing.
My days are packed full, and while I may not always tick off everything that’s on my to-do list everything that really needs doing, gets done. The kids are loved, read to, clean, fed. Homeschooling gets done, the house is clean even if it’s not tidy. My work gets done. And we have fun throughout.
I may be exhausted. Breathless. Tired. But never failing.
Bio:
Single Mama of five, writer, truth-teller, blogger, coach. I am passionate about removing the stigma of mental health and encouraging others to create a life they love ad find peace within themselves.
See more of Polly over at:
